CSI: Anubis
by PantsRock8
Summary: Fabian's gone missing! Join CSI agents Patricia and Jerome with the rest of the Sibuna gang as they hunt down our beloved nerd. Will they find him before time runs out, or are they hopeless? Rated T for CSI related stuff and some mild swearing later on. Sort of AU as this was written before seasons 2 and 3.
1. Prologue - Chapter 1

Hi everybody! So it's winter break right now, and I decided to post one of my old stories from . This is a 16 chapter story that I wrote a while back, especially the beginning few chapters, so it might not start off so good but I promise it will get better as it goes on. Hopefully, I can post all 16 chapters tonight! :D

Happy reading!

_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own House of Anubis... sadly.**_

* * *

**Characters**

Patricia Williamson-29, chief of the London Police Department, divorced, has 2 children (Jade 2, Adam 1).

Jerome Clarke-28, CSI's top agent, single.

Nina Martin Rutter- 28, archeologist, married to Fabian Rutter.

Fabian Rutter-29, astronomer, married to Nina Rutter.

Alfred Lewis-29, Wal-Mart cashier, married to Amber Lewis.

Amber Millington Lewis-28, Paris fashion designer, married to Alfie Lewis.

Joy Mercer-28, scientist, lives in Asia, single.

* * *

**PROLOGUE**

I lied there for a while, knowing I'd never be able to sleep. Fabian had been gone for three days. Great. Four more to go. I sighed, staring up at the indigo ceiling, covered with glittering little glow-in-the-dark white stars. Fabian was at the NASA space station in Florida, for a whole week, finishing up his classes. Somebody help him pass his exam. I was finally beginning to drift when the phone rang. Who could be calling this late? I picked up the phone.

"Hello?" I asked in a sleepy voice.

"Hello, this is Kathy from the space station. Sorry to disturb you Mrs. Rutter, but I have some grave news."

"Oh no, please don't tell me he's going to fail." I said on the brink of tears.

"No, it's worse. Fabian's gone missing!"

* * *

**Chapter 1 – Patricia's POV**

I was working on some paperwork when I received a phone call.

"Patricia Williamson, Chief of Police." I answered.

"Officer Williamson, this is Taylor Brinderwen, head of the department of Crime Scene Investigation. I have a proposition for you." Said a women's voice on the other end.

"Go, on Brinderwen." I said.

"We have a severe case and we need your help. You're being upgraded to an investigator of the CSI."

I sat upright in my swivel chair, mouth hanging open. It had always been my dream to be the top agent of CSI. I had worked my way from a new officer to top of the LPD, and now my dream was coming true. "I'll do it." I said, surprisingly coolly.

"Good. Arrive at headquarters no later than noon, tomorrow. Your new partner will show you around and give you the full intell. Ask for J. Clarke at the front desk. Goodbye."

I leaned back. J. Clarke. Where have I heard that name before?

* * *

**LATER – Jerome's POV**

I was looking over my new partner's file. She should arrive any moment now.

Name: Patricia J. Williamson

Parents: Grace T. Henn Williamson & Jacob L. Williamson

DOB: November 2nd, 1995

Current Age: 29

Occupation: Chief of London Police Department

Blah, blah, blah, hometown, Blah, blah, current address, more blah. I couldn't believe I'd be working with Patricia. I wouldn't have guessed she would be working for the police. She wouldn't have guessed ME of all people would be top agent of the CSI. I remembered all the juvenile pranks my best friend Alfie and I pulled. Throwing water balloons at Nina, filling Fabian's toothpaste with chocolate, and best of all, putting that smelly sock in old Vicky's office, ha ha, good times. I suddenly remembered, Victor. I wonder whatever happened to that creepy old skunk bag. My thoughts were interrupted by Beth, the secretary, coming over the intercom.

"Agent Clarke to the front desk. Clarke to front desk." I fumbled out of my office, down the elevator, through three hallways, and into the lobby. There stood good-old Patricia, her streaks missing, and gothic look gone. Instead she had her hair cut shorter at her shoulders, and was wearing a blue police uniform. A shiny golden badge sat on her chest bearing PATRICIA WILLIAMSON-LPD-CHIEF.

"Well, well, well if it isn't Officer Trixie. Where's your donut?" I said

"Jerome Clarke! I knew I recognized that last name! Wait, how are YOU working for the CSI?"

I laughed "Heheh, I knew you'd say that. C'mon, let me show you around." We walked through the hallways and rooms. "Autopsy room, snack room, Oh yeah, banned from there."

"Same old Jerome I knew." Patricia said laughing.

I couldn't help chuckling myself. "And this is my office. See, look. The plaque is silver. Proving that I am top agent of the CSI." I said, pointing to the plaque on my door.

"Jerome," said Patricia. "You never took the protective foil off the plaque." She began peeling it off, revealing it a normal black plaque with white lettering.

"Oh, that explains why the letters were so hard to read." I said.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – Patricia's POV**

"Wow, this is a really cool office!" I exclaimed. I had spent the entire day training and learning the basics of the CSI. I didn't need much, since I was already a police officer. "Isn't it about time we learned our mission?" I asked Jerome.

"What? Oh, yes right, right." He said quickly. "You're never gonna believe this, but we received a call from Nina last night." He said.

"Wait, do you mean the Nina in high-school who turned out to be the chosen one and Joy wasn't and now is married to Fabian Nina?" I asked.

"Um, yeah. That Nina. Patricia, Fabian's missing."

My eyes grew wide with shock. "We need to get over there."

* * *

**LATER**

"Who knew Fabian and Nina lived on the outskirts of London?" Jerome asked getting out of the van. I shrugged. The house was built on a sandy field right next to a dusty road. One large gnarly tree stood in the middle of the field, and a couple of acres away there was a glittering lake surrounded by woods.

"I guess they like the country, either that or no neighbors. Nobody probably even goes up this road." I said.

He peered down the street. "I think there's a boarded up house down there." Said Jerome.

"Whatever let's just get this over with." I knocked on the door. Seconds later it opened and there stood Nina.

"Patricia! Jerome!" she exclaimed "What are you doing here?"

We both held up our CSI badges.

"Jerome's in the CSI?! Next thing you know Amber won't care about clothes." We all laughed. "I assume I know why you're here then." She said, suddenly serious.

We nodded. "We're here to find Fabian if it takes forever." I said. It was then that I noticed Nina's eyes were all red.

She frowned. "Then you'd better hear the whole story." We walked inside. The house was large. When you walked in there was a staircase not far in front of you. To the right was the kitchen, and the left was the living room. The walls of the living room were a soft baby blue. In front of the TV on the fireplace was a lilac and white striped couch with a white coffee table. To the left were two chairs of the same pattern, and to the right was a side table on the wall underneath a window. The carpet looked soft and glowing white. The kitchen had deep indigo walls and a dark-brown hardwood floor with an island in the center.

"Your home is beautiful." I said.

"Thank you." Nina responded quietly. "Please, sit. I was just making some coffee." She turned on the stereo before heading into the kitchen. We sat in the two lone chairs. I realized the song that was playing was Jar of Hearts. Apparently, Jerome did too.

"Listening to the classics, are you Nina?" he called into the kitchen.

"Don't push it Jerome." We heard back.

"Push what?" He mouthed. I shrugged. She came back in with 3 cups on a tray. She handed one to each of us.

"So," She began, crossing her legs. "Here's what happened. . ."

She began telling us how she had been in bed when the space station called her telling her that Fabian had disappeared. "Kathy told me Fabian DID pass his exam, and was going to take part in a launch next month. However if he wasn't there, the launch may be postponed, which could take millions of dollars out of NASA's budget. If NASA runs out of money, the government could shut down the whole mission! And if Fabian IS found too late, his dreams could be crushed!" When she finished her story, she was sobbing into her hands. I looked at Jerome, Jerome looked at me.

"We're going to find him soon." I promised. "But we're going to need help."

Nina stopped sobbing and lifted her head. "I know just who to call." She said determined.

"Ghost Busters!" Yelled Jerome.

We glared at him. "There are some people from high-school you can't recognize, and then there's Jerome, who never changes." I sighed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 – Jerome's POV**

"I'm glad to see you all again, especially you, Joy." Patricia said smiling.

I kicked my feet up on her desk. "Quit it with the happy greetings Trixie and get on with it!"

"Jerome get out of my chair!" she yelped at me. I rolled my eyes.

Standing before us was the old Sibuna Club, minus Fabian. Alfie, Amber, Joy, Nina, Patricia, and me. Memories seemed to spark into the air. Of the mystery, of high-school, of the prom... anyways I got up from the chair and shook hands with Alfie. We both started laughing.

Patricia carried on. "Well, anyways, we all know why we're here. We need to figure out the suspects to this...mystery. Nina, do you know if Fabian had any competitors?" she asked Nina.

"Well, I'm sure there WAS somebody who was probably angry that Fabian took his place, but I don't know who that could be."

Amber glanced out the window. "Oh, it's such a beautiful night. I'm glad I left Paris to see Big Ben right outside the window."

I perked up. "Trixie" I said smiling. "There's something I want to show you."

"Alright." She said. "Everyone stay and see what you can find of anyone in NASA."

"C'mon" I said. We walked out of the room, up two floors, and into a darkened hallway where all the rooms were empty.

"Where are we going?" Patricia asked anxiously.

"You'll see." I responded. We continued down the hallway. We proceeded to the janitor's closet at the end of the hall.

"Jerome WHERE are we going?" Patricia pushed me.

"C'mon." I said, not answering. She rolled her eyes and followed me through the closet to a door. "You ready?" I asked.

"Sure." She said.

I pushed open the door. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. "It's beautiful!" she whispered.

Before us was a balcony (More like a ledge with boards hammered to it to give it a railing) that gaped out all over London, it's twinkling lights glowing. But the most spectacular was the clock tower. It looked so close, like you could touch it. She slowly walked forward. "This is incredible! And you keep it for yourself?" she asked, slightly angry.

"Actually, I was the last one to find out about it. Employees come up here on Friday nights to have supper." I responded.

"Oh," said Patricia.

After a while, we were about to go back when Patricia bent to the ground, eyes fixed with concentration.

"Trixie, what are you—" I began, then I saw what she was looking at. I picked it up. It was a dirty piece of red construction paper, and scribbled on it in a high-school student's handwriting it read "FREQUENT KIDDNAPPING PUNCH CARD, RUFUS ZENO" Two wholes had been punched into it, with a third that looked fresh, like it had been punched yesterday. Patricia looked at me.

"Rufus has Fabian . . ." she said scared.

* * *

**Patricia's POV**

After we went back to my office and told everyone about what we had found, Nina nearly flipped out. Now she was softly crying in the corner and Amber was trying to comfort her. Alfie, Joy, Jerome and I were discussing the matter.

"We need to get our hands on some information about this guy." I said.

"Hold on a minute." Joy said. "Remember that time we all visited the house to see Trudy, and that girl there, um what was her name...Kristen. She kept fidgeting and glancing out the window, like someone was there. She also kept looking at Fabian strangely. Maybe she knows something."

"Good idea, Joy." Said Jerome. "Maybe we should look at the newsletter for the boarding school and look at Anubis houses, especially."

"Good idea, Alfie." Said Jerome. We started looking up our old boarding school. Jerome was the first to find the newsletter on his tablet. "Um, guys." He said before showing us what he had found.

"Oh no…"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 – Patricia's POV**

"Oh no…"

Even Nina and Amber looked up to see what was going on.

I grabbed the tablet. "_Victor Rodenmarr Jr. died of natural causes Monday, May 7th. The housemother will be taking over in his place. May he rest in peace._" I read the words out loud.

The group stood wide eyed and shocked. "Vicky's . . .d-d-dead?" Alfie stuttered.

"I'm afraid so." Said Jerome.

Now, we didn't know WHAT to do.

"We really need to talk to that girl." I said.

"And how are we going to find her, Pat? She's a grade below us and for all we know could live in Canada!" Jerome asked me.

"OK." I said. "One: Don't call me Pat. Two: Canada? Really? Her father's my lieutenant!"

"Wow, I never thought it'd be this easy!" Amber said.

"It's NEVER this easy!" Jerome half-yelled.

After a while, Nina left and for some reason everyone was playing charades and I was still working, typing away quickly. "Trixie, you've been on all night give it a rest." Jerome complained. "I don't think you've ever been more stressed!"

At that point I lost it. "Never been more stressed?! _NEVER BEEN MORE STRESSED?!_ Jerome, I got married when I was 25. Had two children, and then out of the blue my husband left me. That was just 4 years of my life. FOUR YEARS! My town is depending on me to keep them safe and that can be stress enough! Now one of our best friends from high-school is missing and his wife is sitting at home crying and we need to get him home _by the end of the month!_"

Everyone was wide eyed, especially Jerome. "Go home everyone, or to your hotel. I need to get home to my kids who spend time with their grandmother all day." Joy was going to be staying with me, and Jade and Adam both loved her. I was still irritated at Jerome, and didn't even take a second glance as he walked to his car.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 – Nina's POV**

I got out of my car and walked into my house, flicking the lights on. I sighed. The house seemed so empty, which was once so full of life. Rufus was going to get it, right in the balls! I slipped my shoes off and groggily stepped upstairs.

That night I had the craziest, most amazing dream of my life.

It started out the day he proposed to me. We were walking up a hill arm-in-arm. I was wearing a strapless dark blue dress that cut off at my knees with sparkles on the chest. I had silver flats with a shiny blue flower on each, with a matching flower in my neatly straightened hair. It wasn't often that I wore my hair straight. Fabian said I looked beautiful in it. He was wearing a white short-sleeved polo shirt and jeans with black dress shoes.

We stopped at the top of the hill which was surrounded by trees. If you looked out you could see what felt like a billion miles. We sat down on a blanket and put one headphone in each of our ears that lead to the same mp3. He said he had a "Special" playlist added to the mp3 we shared, so we listened to it. It started off with "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol. That figured. It kept going through a few songs like that, like "Good Life" by OneRepublic. The last song played was "Marry Me" by Train. I looked over to him and he was holding a little box with a beautiful ring with a ruby on it, my birthstone. At that moment, these bubbles appeared out of the trees and engulfed us. One of them flew towards me, and when it popped, everything exploded into colorful splashes that kept changing from red, green, blue, yellow, purple, black and every other color you can imagine.

All of a sudden, I was at my wedding, walking down the aisle by myself. I could feel myself glowing. I didn't have many relatives, just a few cousins and my Gran, who was crying her eyes out. Many of my friends came, including Trudy, who was also crying. Right when I was about to step up to the Alter, everything broke away into tiny pieces one by one, and I fell into blackness.

Suddenly, I was floating in water, flailing my arms like couldn't breathe. I looked up and saw the surface and swam up to it. When I resurfaced, I saw myself on the shore of a beach with Fabian, my head on his shoulder and his arm around me. We were talking about something, but I couldn't make out the words. Out of nowhere something pulled me down under the surface again.

I closed my eyes tight and reopened them, and I was standing in space. There was no floor beneath me, yet I was standing. I looked around and saw the stars. I recognized the constellations Fabian had pointed out to me. One of the stars directed a beam of light behind me, and I turned around and saw it had lit up a corridor, just...there. I walked in and there were checkerboard tiles and marble walls. On the walls were photographs of me and Fabian, driving in cars, sitting on benches, everything, and there was thousands of them, all bunched together. One thing I noticed was that each picture was tinted a certain color, like blue or white. Then something caught my eye. I backed up to the very end of the other side of the corridor, and stared at the wall. All the pictures created a mosaic of a little girl with curly brown hair and green eyes wearing a white T-shirt with blue sleeves with a denim butterfly on the front and a denim skirt standing in a garden holding a little grey kitten.

And the flowers of that garden came together to spell "HOPE".


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 – Jerome's POV**

Patricia was working at her computer when I walked in. She seemed somewhat calm, and at peace with herself. Maybe she had gotten over our argument. Well if she wasn't, I hoped this would help. I walked up to her. "I'm sorry that I . . . drove you crazy. Not just now, but all those times back in high-school." I said. She didn't say anything back, just continued her work. I sighed. "I talked to Brinderwen, and now you don't have to work on Fridays, Saturdays, and Wednesdays, so you can spend time with your kids." I said.

She stopped, and looked at me. "You're not trying to trick me, are you?" I shook my head and smiled.

"No ma'am."

She smiled back. "Well, thanks, I guess. Sorry that I snapped last night." Patricia said. "Maybe you're not as reckless as I thought, Jerome."

"You mean that?" I asked.

**Nina's POV**

I was going through boxes of our high-school years in the attic. Ah, memories. Ever since I had that dream I felt . . . calmer, like everything was going to turn out OK.

One box I dug through was full of old photo albums, CDs, and other random objects. One of the things I found and laughed at so hard was a copy of "The Solar System Is Your Friend" that I had gotten for Fabian for Christmas one year. Another thing was a picture of our Halloween costumes. I was an Angry Bird, Fabian an atom, Patricia a witch, Amber a princess, Mick a... famous athlete, Mara I will never be able to tell what the heck she's wearing, Alfie an alien, and Jerome a box. I have NO idea what was going on in Jerome's head that year, but I assume it wasn't pretty.

I cleared out the box to see what was at the bottom, and there were two objects wrapped with plastic grocery bags. I hadn't seen those types of bags in a while, because now everyone was using reusable ones, so I knew this one MUST be old. I picked up one of the objects and unwrapped the bag. What I found was a glittering crown covered with jewels that looked like it was for a queen.

I had found our crowns from prom!


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 – Patricia's POV**

Jerome and I went into the police station and headed into Lieutenant Haden's office. When he saw me, he said "Well well well, if it isn't Williamson. Where've you been? And who's the guy eating my sandwich?"

I turned around. Sure enough Jerome was chewing on a ham sandwich. I smacked it out of his hands. "Um, don't worry about where I've been, can you just tell me where your daughter Kristen works?" I asked.

He seemed confused. "Um, Kristen's not my daughter. She's my niece." He said.

"Well, do you know where she works?"

"I can tell you, if you make me another sandwich."

"Lieutenant, I don't have time for this! Tell me where she works or so help me you'll be reduced to traffic control!"

This shook him up. "She owns Glitzie's Restaurant in Halifax, Canada!"

There was a moment of silence.

"CANADA?!" I asked.

"Glitzie's?" said Jerome.

* * *

**Later, in Canada – Jerome's POV**

When Trix' and I headed into the restaurant, there was a girl on a platform singing "Hallelujah" from Shrek. Patricia looked at me.

"You know, this song was written by a guy named Rufus." She said. I smiled and rolled my eyes. "I'm pretty sure that's Kristen." She said. She must've been right, because the girl matched her description, and her uncle said she sings there a lot. We stood and waited until the song was over. When it was, Kristen stepped down and walked behind the bar, tying an apron to her waist. We went and sat down at it.

"Excuse me?" I asked. She turned and looked at us.

"Can I help-Wait, you're those people that came to our high-school! Jerome and...Patricia! Right?" She said smiling.

We nodded. "We just want to ask you a few questions." Patricia said, holding up her badge. I did the same.

Kristen seemed uneasy. "Uh...sure." She said. "Can I get you anything?"

"I'll have a beer—"

"We'll have water." Patricia told her as I pouted.

She poured two glasses and handed them to us and started cleaning another glass.

"Now, what can you tell us about Rufus Zeno?" Patricia asked.

"Also known as Rene Zeldeman." I added. Kristen almost dropped the glass.

"Ugh, Zeno." She said. "That bag of dirt had me playing on the wrong side of the tracks. I used to work for him because he wanted to get some information about some 'Eternal life' or something. I'm like whatever, I don't care. I just need some cash." She went on. "Things started to get more dangerous than I could handle. It was back in high-school, and he asked me to help him kidnap some guy, and when you people came I recognized Fabian from the picture Rufus had shown me. He was going to kidnap him. I couldn't take it. I dropped out of high-school, changed my last name, and here I am, Halifax." She finished her story.

We were wide eyed. "Thank you for the information." I said. "We'll keep in touch."

We were just out the door when she called after us. "Wait!" She said running up to us. "I want to help you get Zeno."

"Uh, Kristen, I wouldn't..." Patricia started, then saw the fire in her eyes. A burning, helpful fire.

"Alright." She said. "What do you have for us?"

Kristen thought for a moment. "I remember he used to have a hideout somewhere in London, but I can't remember the street name." My eyes opened wide.

"London?" I asked.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 – Patricia's POV**

The weeks went by, and still no sign from Kristen or anywhere giving us another lead on Rufus. Our teams had sniffed out nearly every building in the downtown area. No luck.

I was sitting at my desk, late at night, when Joy walked down the stairs. "Patricia," she said, stifling a yawn. "You're still up this late?"

"I'm still working. I'm trying to scrounge up some detail about where that house Kristen was talking about could be." I said.

"Poor Nina, she must feel terrible. She's probably so lonely out there in the country, without any neighbors or anything."

I nearly spit out my gum remembering something. "_That's it!_" I whisper-yelled.

"What?" Joy asked. "It makes perfect sense! The abandoned house Jerome was talking about, on the street Nina and Fabian live on!"

As if on cue my cell phone rang, and it was Kristen, calling from her hotel room. "Patricia!" She said. "I remembered the street name! It's-"

"Lily Trail." We said together.

"How did you know that?" She asked.

"Magic powers. Now, alert the crew. We're leaving to rescue Twinkle Toes first thing in the morning!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 – Patricia's POV**

"Since when did you start calling Fabian 'Twinkle Toes'?" Joy asked.

"Earlier than you remember. Now, get some sleep. We've got a felon to catch." I said.

Immediately I started calling the Sibuna members. Nina, Jerome, Joy, Alfie, Amber, Kristen and I would be staking out the boarded up place at 6:00 in the morning.

* * *

**Jerome's POV**

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

I groaned. If there's one thing I hate about work, it's getting up at 5:00 in the morning. My alarm clock rang until I smacked it with my pillow. After dragging myself out of bed I showered, dressed, guzzled a 5 Hour Energy and drove my car down to work, then took the undercover stakeout van (Haven't you just ALWAYS wanted to ride in one of those?) to Patricia's house, where she and Joy got in. Then it was off to Amber and Alfie's hotel, then Kristen's hotel, then Nina's house. That's when our stakeout began.

Patricia set up the foldable table and placed a map of the surrounding area on it. "OK. Here's the plan. We take this back road down to the creek, following it until we reach this intersection where the river splits." She traced our path with her finger. "Then we take a right into the woods, and circle this rock to that vehicle trail. We follow that for three minutes, and stop. Rufus' lair will be east of us, where we can get a good view. Are you ready?" Everyone kind of looked around at each other and nodded half-heartedly. "I said ARE YOU READY!?" Patricia yelled.

"YEAH!" we all responded, but went instantly quiet when I hit the gas.

I turned around and headed south away from the mansion (Well, we don't WANT to be seen!) until we hit the back road Patricia was talking about. The air seemed a little tense, but it was kind of ruined by the sound of Kristen playing Angry Birds on her iPhone. To my surprise, Patricia even got out my tablet and started playing Temple Run, until I gave her the evil eye and she changed to the GPS app. "We're right on course. We should be hitting the designated area in about 2 minutes." But I swear, every second we got closer my heart pounded faster. It's not like I was SCARED of Rufus, I was just scared of what we were going to find. Sometimes, the scariest things in life are the things that hide from you, that surprise you. That mystify you.

"We're here! Stop!"


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 – Jerome's POV**

"We're here! Stop!" Patricia whisper-yelled. (She's got a thing for that.)

I killed the engine and turned on the radar. Sure enough, our stakeout was nearly 100 meters from the old house. Everyone kind of huddled together, as if they were creeped out. Well, it WAS kind of creepy. When you're sitting in the silent woods 100 meters away from a maniac's abandoned mansion in the dark, with no headlights on, it seems like a horror creature might pop up any second, as if you're on one of those haunted rides. Luckily the van was black, and we were in some pretty dense woods, but just to be safe I turned on the Camo. It's this really cool system panels that you attach to your car, and when you turn it on the entire car can appear black when you're driving through the night, a greenish-brown colour if you're driving quickly through the woods, or covered with leaves if you're on a stakeout in the forest in front of a psyhco's house.

* * *

**Patricia's POV**

All was quiet. A little TOO quiet if you ask me. Eventually, the sun rose up over our heads and we were able to get a better view of Rufus' fortress. Each with binoculars in hand, and a walkie-talkie in the other, we suited up in bullet proof vests and each retreated into the woods.

"Circle the house." I told them. "Just don't get too close, and stay hidden." Jerome and I hid behind a giant bush. Alfie and Amber stood behind some trees. Joy and Kristen crouched behind a boulder, while Nina stood all alone, unsure of what to do. Jerome walkie-talkied her.

"Get behind the house, on the other side! See what you can see. Over." While I stood there, wondering what "See what you can see." meant, Nina circled through the woods behind the house, and a reply came in on Jerome's radio.

"There's a garage over here! And a rusty old van is parked inside! I can see through the windows. Over." Jerome and I looked at each other. Rufus was home.

I replied on my walkie-talkie. "Alright. Make sure you're hidden well, and stay quiet. If the car leaves, use this signal: The owl has left the tree. Over." I then radioed to everyone. "If you hear me say, "The owl has left the tree." get back to the van as quickly and quietly as possible. Jerome and I will be heading in. Over and out."

Not a word came from anyone for at least 3 hours. I was about to fall asleep when my walkie-talkie buzzed and static came through, until I heard a shaky voice say: "The owl has left the tree." I widened my eyes and turned my head to Jerome.

"Are you ready?" I whispered.

"As ready as I'll ever be. Let's do this." He said, with a mad grin on his face.

I put my walkie-talkie to my ear. "The owl has left the tree. Repeat. The owl has left the tree. Let's move!"

Instantly everyone raced back to the van. I unzipped my camo backpack: Water bottle, energy bar, binoculars, torch, camera ring, and ear piece microphone. I attached the mic to my ear and slipped the camera onto my hand. I pressed a button on the mic. "This is Field Agent 1 coming into base. Agent 1 to base. Do you read me?"

Kristen's voice came over my ear. "Base to Agent 1 we read you loud and clear. Field Agent 2, check in."

"Agent 2 checking in to base." Jerome said to the mic in his ear.

"Do you have visual?" I said, holding up the ring.

"Visual is clear."

"OK. We're going in."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 – Patricia's POV**

Getting into Rufus' place wasn't exactly hard. All I had to do was turn the nob and the door opened. Not exactly smart to stay in a place about to fall apart, Rufus. The doorway led into a foyer covered with dust and cobwebs, however footprints appeared in the dust.

Jerome took pictures of the evidence with his camera. The pictures where sent back to the van and saved in files on the van's computer. While I dusted for fingerprints to find some identification evidence, Jerome scoped out the staircase. More footprints. More pictures. We walked around the house, and before we could start a good search, we down the stairs into the dining room, and who do we see standing there?

"Hello, agents." Said a very, very old Rufus Zeno.

I was about to say a retort, but Alfie screamed in my headpiece "HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?!" My ears rang, but if Rufus heard it, he didn't show.

"I know exactly why you are here, and exactly what you want. He is hidden somewhere in this house, but if you don't find him in the next five minutes, well, this place will explode. Tata!" He raced out before I even had the chance to cuff him for interrogation.

"Oh, boy!" Jerome said sarcastically. "He gets to escape from prison and we get to blow up! It's a win-win!"

I snapped back at him. "Focus, Clarke! Five minutes."

He shut his mouth as we quickly searched the house. But, leaving no stone unturned, Rufus had hidden him well. I screamed at the top of my lungs "RUTTER! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!" No answer.

"Patricia, you have approximately 20 seconds!" Kristen yelled in my ear.

"Oh, you couldn't have told me that sooner?!" I growled back. "JEROME!" I screeched to him up the stairs. "THIS PLACE IS GONNA BLOW! GET OUT, NOW!" With that, he came flying down the stairs.

We raced out the door just as the rickety old building exploded.

Everyone was gathered at a safe distance from the house. Nina fell to her knees.

"YOU MANIAC! YOU BLEW IT UP! DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!" She screamed, giving us a Planet of the Apes flashback.

I couldn't believe it. I had failed.

"Something's not right!" I cried. "I mean, he seemed to be using Fabian for ransom or something. Why would he just kill him?"

"Just… just shut up Patricia." Jerome said, his voice stone cold. He was rubbing his side where he fell on it. "It was probably for revenge."

"But… we can't just—"

"IT'S OVER PATRICIA!" He screamed. "WE FAILED! IT'S TOO LATE NOW! We'll probably never be able to find Rufus at this point when he's destroyed every piece of possible evidence."

I said nothing, but knew I would make sure to have the sight tested and sift through it for anything important.

Feeling melancholy, we walked away from the scene.

Everyone except Joy was giving me angry looks, and my arm was sore from jumping out of the house onto it, but the pure sadness on Nina's face hurt more than anything could've done.

* * *

So how does it all end? Is Fabian really gone? Left, without a trace? Will the Sibunas ever trust Patricia again? Will Kristen be forever haunted by the guilt that plagues her? Can Nina ever return to normal? Where will Rufus strike next, and is he working alone? **_WILL SOMEBODY EVER GET ME A SANDWICH?!_** There's only one way to find out...read on!


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 – Nina's POV**

So, this is the end, is it? My husband is gone, NASA has no hopes, and now I have to plan a funeral. Oh, and to top that off, now I'm walking home in the rain for 3 kilometers.

When I got home, I took off my wet clothes and stepped into a long hot bath, and when it was over pretty much half of the water was now tears. Even though it was only 7 P.M. at this point, I put on my pajamas and got into bed.

Then, I had another amazing dream.

I was standing on a cliff in a long white dress. Tall stalks of grass waved in the sunset-warm wind. That's where I saw it again. "HOPE" was written crop circle-style in the grass. Alfie would've freaked.

I walked over to it and placed my hand on where the stalks had been flattened. They felt warm and soft, so I stepped on to them because the rest of the ground was cold. But when I did, I sank into the ground and when the blackness faded I was sitting on a sandy shore. I knew this beach, Fabian and I had vacationed here about 3 years ago. I felt the warm sand beneath my feet, and watched the sun set behind the ocean. I didn't know until then you could cry in a dream.

Then, a miracle happened.

"Nina." I heard a voice whisper. For the first time in nearly a month, I heard the relaxing voice of Fabian next to me. I turned and saw him. He wiped the tears from my cheeks. I tried to touch him, but my hand just passed through.

"Are . . . are you dead?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"No. Not yet. But I will be soon, if you are not here in time. I love you."

With that, he disappeared like mist. Written in the sand behind me, I saw:

"_Time weathers down your chance, as it weathers down the beach._

_Tomorrow at the sunset, when the sky is colored peach._"

I woke with a jolt, and a warm feeling rose inside of me. Fabian was not dead.

Yet.

I got in my car and drove as fast as the speed limit would let me. I didn't care if it was midnight, I had to do this! When I arrived at my destination, I got out, walked up to the door, and knocked. Joy answered.

"Nina, is this really necessary? 12:00 in the morning." She said, stifling a yawn.

"Never mind that. Where's Patricia?"

"Crying in the bathtub. I think."

"She' s taking a bath?

"No."

OK, now Joy was confusing me. But when she led me to the bathroom I saw what she meant. Patricia was in the bathtub with no water, her clothes on, and tears falling almost as bad as mine had. She looked at me and sniffed.

"You won't believe this." I said.

When I had finished my story, Patricia stopped crying and looked hopeful.

She jumped up. "Yes! Yes! I _knew_ something didn't feel right!" She exclaimed.

As if on cue, Joy walked back in happily. "PATRICIA! The lab results came back _negative_! No traces of dead humans were found at the scene, which means Fabian is still alive!"

At that moment, all 3 of us jumped for joy. And for Joy.

"So it's decided. Fabian's case is still open. But, where do we look next?" Patricia asked.

"I think I know." I said. I proceeded to tell them about the area where the crop circle writing appeared.

"I know that place!" Said Joy. "It's Riddler's Folley, over by Mt. Terrace!"

"OK, but when do we go?" Patricia wondered aloud.

"_Tomorrow at the sunset, when the sky is colored peach..._" I mumbled. "Joy! What time does the sun set tomorrow?"

"I think the weather show said 7:12."

"Then we will arrive at Riddler's Folley, tomorrow, at 7:00 P.M."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 – Patricia's POV**

Mt. Terrace shouldn't have been called a mountain. It was more like a large hill, that's maximum height was 200 meters. Riddler's Folley was simply a flat plateau that stuck off on the back end, about 30 meters shorter than the rest of the mountain. I drove along the dusty back roads through the woods, trying to find the easiest way to get up there. But as I was driving, anger was bubbling inside of me about my conversation with Jerome earlier.

I had busted into his office early this morning.

"What do you want, Patricia?" He growled, automatically knowing it was me.

"Fabian isn't dead. I know it." I said, confidentially.

"Oh, and how do you know?"

"Well, for one thing no human traces were found at the crime scene of the explosion, two, Nina had a dream where I he told her he was alive, and it gave us an exact date and time, and three, I just know it."

He became angry. "Oh, you just know it, do you? Just like you did about our last situation? What could possibly make you so sure about all of this, a silly little dream? Face it Patricia_, it isn't worth it._"

I sighed. "Listen, Jerome, I know things didn't turn out exactly like we planned, but Nina's dreams have never let us down before. I have only one question for you: would you rather enjoy adventure and revenge of putting Rufus back in prison, obtaining fame and glory of saving the life of an important person, or sit at your desk, alone, questioning your abilities?"

But he said nothing, only continued typing away at his computer.

"Fine, have it your way. Maybe you _aren't_ the best agent CSI ever had." I said coldly, then turned and stormed out.

I shook my head to clear it. _Forget about him._ I told myself. _You have work to do._ I continued driving up the slope.

This was the plan: Arrive at the base of Mt. Terrace with the rest of Sibuna. My pilot friend, Harley Cricket, had dropped of a helicopter for us to fly up earlier. I would head up to the folley by myself in my car, then with my earpiece, I would signal to everyone else in the helicopter (Kristen would be flying) for them to arrive on the folley and provide back up. We would ship Rufus off to jail, save Fabian, and be heroes.

Eventually, I found a good road to drive up the folley.

"Here we go." I whispered out loud. "No turning back now."

Silently, I brought the truck to a stop at the top of the folley and stepped out, my heart racing.

"Well well well chief, we meet again."

Rufus' voice cut through the air like a knife. I saw him leaning against a dark green jeep, with the trunk filled with large bags.

"How ever did you know how to find me?" He asked sarcastically, his piercing blue eyes glittering in the light of the sunset.

"A little birdie told me." I said, equally demanding.

He chuckled slightly. "If you want me, come and get me!"

He struck first, slapping me across the face and causing me to lose my balance. I came back up and put him in a head lock, but he kicked my legs and I fell. He took of my cuffs and clasped them around my hands. Before I could call for help, he snatched the earpiece out of my ear and powerfully crushed it in his hand.

"There's something I'd like you to see." He whispered to me sourly, then spoke loudly "Patricia, meet my partner!"

Suddenly, out from behind the Jeep appeared none other than Lieutenant Johnathan Haden.

"No." I cried. "No no no no! Not you, Haden! Not you!"

"I'm sorry, Chief, but the profit was too much to resist." He said with a sneer.

"Have you not noticed," Rufus said circling my struggling body on the ground. "all of the burglaries happening latley?"

I suddenly remembered alarm alerts softly buzzing in my old police office which I hadn't been visiting latley. The color flushed from my face.

"You see, with the police force focusing on the kidnaptation of Mr. Star Spangled Fingers-"

"Twinkle Toes." I interuppted.

"Whatever. With all of you trying to rescue him, commiting crimes has been easy as 1 2 3." He said, showing me a bag of expensive looking jewelry.

"But, why Rufus? Why? What did kidnapping Fabian and stealing have to do with anything from high-school?"

He laughed. "Who said it did? But it's a good question. You see, I needed the stolen goods for money to stay on top of my game with you all on my tail."

"So you used the money to pay for gadgets to keep us out of your hair, like the bomb in your house, and to keep Fabian from escaping. But that doesn't explain why you needed him in the first place."

"Well, Patricia my dear. Without him, he couldn't be used as ransom for the cup and the mask, now could he?"


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14 – Patricia's POV**

I knew it! I knew Rufus was still after the cup!

"Look, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way." I said through gritted teeth.

Rufus laughed with a rusty squeak. Then suddenly I knew.

"You bargained Haden into this because you're not at you're physical peak, and you used him to do you're dirty work! You're a sick, sick man, Zeno."

His look grew cold. He kicked my leg.

"Shut up and tell me where the cup is."

I had only one option. I had to keep him talking.

"What makes you think I'd help you?"

_If looks could kill..._

He grabbed my arms. "You're going to tell me exactly what I need to know or this will get very, very interesting." He whispered evilly.

I was about to spit out a retort, when Rufus leaped back. At first, I thought he had gone mad. Then I realized someone had grabbed him...

"Jerome!" I cried. "You've come back!"

"I could use some help!" He yelled as he tried to cuff a squirming Rufus. Jerome ended up tackling him and they began wrestling on the ground, rolling about and spluttering unmentionable sentences at each other.

I ran to help, but Rufus escaped toward his Jeep. At that moment, Kristen and everyone else appeared in the helicopter. Somehow, I could hear Amber's screaming over the blades churning.

With Haden in the passenger's seat, Rufus took off in his Jeep. Everyone got out of the helicopter and we all got in the van as quickly as possible with Alfie screeching like a warrior. Jerome hit the gas and we were off.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 – Patricia's POV**

We took off after Rufus in hot pursuit.

Somehow navigating the dangerous cliff face, Jerome drove madly.

Alfie stuck his head out the window. "SURRENDER!" He screamed.

Must he always be comedic relief?

Kristen suddenly took hold of what was going on.

"Uncle John!" She cried in despair.

This simple word pushed Haden over the edge. Literally. Some good left in him took control and he grabbed hold of the wheel and spun it to the right. They broke over the edge and skidded down the slope, somehow safely making it to the ground but crashing into a tree.

We all got out of the van and picked our way down the slope as fast as possible. When we made it to the van, it was smoldering, but the coughing told us both of the men were alive.

We pulled Rufus out of the van, kicking and screaming about how he would get his revenge, while Kristen pulled Haden out of the other side, hugging him and promising him forgiveness, while he just smiled insanely, which you really shouldn't be doing when you've been in a car accident and are about to be arrested.

Since both of them survived with only cuts and bruises, we put both of them in the van and stood around the Jeep.

Amber said it first. "So there's only one question left...where's Fabian?"

As if on cue, one of the bags burst open and there he sat, blinking and trembling. Without a word he stepped out of the Jeep and approached Nina.

"Fabian." She whispered under her breath. Then she screamed it. "FABIAN!" She ran and "koala"ed him. He spun her around laughing with joy. We all cheered and joined in a group hug.

And that's when the Jeep exploded.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16 – Patricia's POV**

Luckily, no one died from the explosion. We all made it out of the hospital alive; me with a cast on a wrist, Jerome with one on his arm, Joy with one on her left leg, Kristen with a dislocated shoulder, Alfie with some large bruises, and Amber with a scar on her upper right leg. But Fabian and Nina were unharmed, probably because they were in the middle of our group hug, or maybe because of a miracle?

A party was thrown to celebrate Fabian's return. It was in the Rutter's basement, where there was punch and treats and music. It reminded me of our Prom back in high-school. Everyone was having a good time. At one point, I was leaning against a doorway, smiling as I watched Nina and Fabian slow dance. Jerome appeared out of the doorway.

"Watching the star crossed lovers dance, eh, Primrose?" He asked. I laughed.

"You know if I was anything like Prim, it'd be the apocalypse, right?"

He laughed too, and then asked me if I wanted to dance.

I smirked, then agreed.

As we swayed back and forth to the music, I asked him "Do you ever wonder what might've happened if we hadn't become CSI agents?"

He thought for a moment, then answered "I know I wouldn't have gotten the chance to become closer to you."

Before I knew it, we were kissing.


	17. Epilogue

**EPILIOGUE – No One's POV**

Everything got better from then on.

Everyone traveled with Fabian to the space station, where he was given a gracious welcome. When they returned, things changed. Amber, Alfie, Joy, and Kristen moved to London to be closer to all their friends. Haden and Rufus were put in jail but Haden got on parole for good behavior. Amber started a new clothes line, specifically designed for CSI agents across the globe, while Alfie got a more successful job at Target. Joy joined the police force, eventually taking Patricia's place as chief. Kristen opened another Glitzes', and before you knew it, it became a chain restaurant. Jerome and Patricia lived out their days fighting crime as CSI partners, and their faces became legends all over the world, with Patricia's two kids Jade and Adam, along with their new half-brother Kyle, following close behind.

As for Nina and Fabian, well, a beautiful baby girl was born between them.

And her name is Sarah Hope Rutter.

**~THE END~**


End file.
